Sotheby’s Maison opens at Landmark Chater to host exhibitions, performances and auctions

‘Bodhi: Masterpieces of Monumental Buddhist Art’ and ‘Ice: Two Masterworks on Loan from the Long Museum’ are on display – as is Banksy’s infamous shredded artwork, Girl Without Balloon

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Exhibits in the “Bodhi: Masterpieces of Monumental Buddhist Art” show at at Sotheby’s Maison, in Landmark Chater, Central. Photo: Sotheby’s Maison

Gavin Yeung

Published: 5:36pm, 25 Jul 2024Updated: 3:20pm, 30 Jul 2024

Hot on the heels of news that Hongkong Land and luxury brands are set to pour US$1 billion over three years into renovating Central’s Landmark properties, the developer’s “Tomorrow’s Central” project is already yielding returns for mall-goers, with Sotheby’s two-storey Maison at Landmark Chater set to open this weekend, on July 27.

The 24,000 sq ft space is set to burnish Hong Kong’s credentials as a global centre for the arts and comes after the city’s auction houses reported encouraging spring jewellery sales. It is a cultural playground where dinosaur fossils rub shoulders with contemporary masterpieces, and where you can snap up a piece of history for as little as HK$5,000, or splash out HK$50 million on a showstopping piece of art.

“Bodhi: Masterpieces of Monumental Buddhist Art” is one of the debut exhibitions at Sotheby’s Maison, featuring a series of monumental Buddhist sculptures tracing the development of Buddhist art. Photo: Sotheby’s

“Our vision for the new Sotheby’s Maison is to establish it as the pivotal cultural hub in Hong Kong – a destination that is designed to challenge your mind, offering a portal to another world, to inspire and engage with our existing collectors and new audience alike,” says Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia.

The ground floor of the Maison will host year-round exhibitions and performances, alongside the company’s signature auction shows.

Kicking off the proceedings are two exhibitions: “Bodhi: Masterpieces of Monumental Buddhist Art” brings together sculptures in a programme that traces the development of Buddhist art.

Sotheby’s Maison in Landmark Chater, Central. Photo: Sotheby’s Maison

Meanwhile, in the more intimate Sanctum space, “Ice: Two Masterworks on Loan from the Long Museum” showcases icy wonders that span centuries. There’s Gerhard Richter’s Eisberg (1982), a painterly re-examination of landscapes in the photographic age, paired with a rare Ru ware brush washer circa 1100.